Humans, like all the other living systems are a result of small transformations over millions of years. But, at some point of time we crossed a threshold of intelligence and learned to build products (tools). This accelerated our rate of transformation exponentially. We have used this ability to will into existence rather than just wish for the changes we wanted to bring to our surroundings and now our bodies.
From farming and agriculture to silicon and nano-materials of today, technology driven transformations have improved longevity and quality of human life. Products enable these transformations by bridging the abstract technologies and humans.
I find this definition very grounding when ideating products. It’s user-centric, inspiring, and provides a comprehensive framework for solutioning.
User-centric 🔗
This thought process is similar to that of JTBD framework, which keeps the focus on the user and her life. The product and its features should ideally be then designed such that they surface at the point of need with the right interface and capability, and bring about a successful transformation. This is the key driver of User Empathy for me personally, pushing me to always have an element of “designed for X” in each product.
Inspiring 🔗
I personally find the power to shape or improve lives of fellow humans in any non-trivial manner very inspiring. It’s important to ease the user into a new state of balance from their current one. This is what pushes me to think of products artistically, to not just limit to the functional need but bring an element of joy and join the user in celebrating the transformation. To pay attention to the last level of detail knowing full well the significance of the Journey that we briefly share.
Structured Framework 🔗
TODO
Transformations have to be meaningful, feasible, and sustainable.
Desired outcome Well thought-out and purposefully built product
END TODO
End quote
The desire to improve ourselves and our life-situations is in our DNA. It’s what makes us human. Moreover, we do these transformations with purpose. We purposefully use the arts to improve ourselves emotionally; the sciences to improve ourselves intellectually; and engineering to improve how we interact with the world. - Alan Klement
Mindmap 🔗
